Thread: Jigsaw decisions

C'mon. Nose outta the sawdust. Somebody must be familiar with Porter Cable or have a used Makita/Metabo/etc they want to sell me.

Hi,
They are a respected American brand and as far as I know they are still made in the US of A but check on the box before taking my word for it as they are shipping their jobs to Mexico, South America and China as fast as we are sending ours to Vietnam. Malaysia and China and one just can't keep up. Not that any thing is wrong with that they tell me.
Regards

I notice in a neaby thread "Bosh no all that they cracked up to be" that Bosch get a rave review from a lot of people. I might look at those.

Although not in the big brand league, I was after a jigsaw last year after my Sturdee finally died. It was a "found on a shelf in Woolworths" that I bought on a whim about twenty years ago.
While in Bunnings I spied a specials shelf with a Black and Decker jigsaw - electronic variable speed model for all of $17. I was obviously ripped off as I have seen them cheaper since. But what a great little jigsaw this is.
Now I know it isn't a Bosch or a Makita or a Metabo - but it works and works well.
I know I can buy another cheaply if it carks it.
If you don't intend using it all day every day for the rest of your working life, then something like this may suit you.
Cheers
SG

I've got a green Bosch VS unit that gets the occasional run and works nicely.

Used it to cut hard stuff like FC sheet tile underlay; killed the blades but not the unit.

Vacuum port, thrust bearing behind the blade, quick blade change system.

Can't recall the price but would have had to be under $200 new.

I have snagged a pendulum action 650 W Ryobi for $110. My hardware man talked me into it, with the attraction that it has a two year warranty if it behaves badly. Given that I will only use it lightly and occasionally, it might do the trick. Here's to a straight cut and the reliability of the Earth's rotation.

You must be planning on a very long blade then ;-}

Straight through the hi-diddle-diddle Ern. Through the Equator.

First one I bought was cheap, only a few dollars. The blade went up and down and that was it.
It was reasonable on plasterboard, otherwise it was a waste of time. Next was a Bosch, blade goes up and down plus in and out. That can cut. Sure you may be able to cut thin ply without a pendulum action, but real work is beyond them.

I've got a Makita 4329. Think it cost $160 or so. Been very good. I had a look at the Bosch green but thought that they spent more on the gimmick (laser level) and felt the Makita was more solid.

Cheers,

Tom

I have a makita 5134 (~ the love of wood ~: Tool Review: Makita 4351FCT Jigsaw) and am pretty happy with it (not for sale). I think it was like $250 if your budget stretches it may be worth considering.

One thing I would mention is that it's performance relates a lot to the quality and sharpness of blades in it. I'm using bosch blades (~$40 for 5) with good results but as they dull the jigsaw makes clearly a rougher cut, the motor gets hotter, and whole process is slow.

Some time ago, I was in a country town, killing time while SWMBO was at a craft workshop, so went into the local Bunnies. Saw a green Bosch Jigsaw and asked the price. "Oh, that shouldn't be there, it's not part of our range and should have been withdrawn. There's no box or book." So I offered a silly price as is AND THEY ACCEPTED!

Another fan of the Makita 4351FCT, i have one and it laughs in the face of anything i put in front of it.
Its the barrel handle version not the D handle type as i prefer this type for cutting circles curves etc which to me is what a jigger is all about plus my mate has the D handle version, only thing that beats it in my opinion is the festool but at twice the price i would rather have a new one of these every 3 years.
used it the other day at work cutting out for a round sink in a 40mm benchtop and it made short work of it with no hard pushing or effort required.
Have had it about a year done some pretty heavy duty cutting with it with no loss of power and no rattling under use.
have seen other people using those $100 odd dollar ryobi/bosch and the effort to keep the thing going and accurate is ridiculous, like anything go as high end as you can afford or require.

Originally Posted by Uncle Cletus

Another fan of the Makita 4351FCT, i have one and it laughs in the face of anything i put in front of it.
Its the barrel handle version not the D handle type as i prefer this type for cutting circles curves etc which to me is what a jigger is all about plus my mate has the D handle version, only thing that beats it in my opinion is the festool but at twice the price i would rather have a new one of these every 3 years.
used it the other day at work cutting out for a round sink in a 40mm benchtop and it made short work of it with no hard pushing or effort required.
Have had it about a year done some pretty heavy duty cutting with it with no loss of power and no rattling under use.
have seen other people using those $100 odd dollar ryobi/bosch and the effort to keep the thing going and accurate is ridiculous, like anything go as high end as you can afford or require.

Just bought one of these from the U.K. (Toolstop) $232 and a week later it was here. New 3 pin plug and away it went.

Yes happy with it. The barrel handle is what attracted me to. The cheapest in Australia was $319 at my local mitre 10. Would have bought theirs one day but no-one would come and serve me. The U.K. one comes with 20 spare makita blades so I walked out and gave the old country the business and saved the best part of $90. Very rare that the local mitre 10 is the best deal about. The Australia online price is about $350.